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At a minimum, you should have one smoke detector in every bedroom and any area where people sleep, one in the area just outside of each bedroom and at least one on every level of your home.

But do your smoke alarms actually work? Are you sure? Three out of five people who die in fires did not have enough smoke alarms in their home, or their alarms did not work. Old smoke alarms and those without power or batteries cannot help your family when their lives count on it.

Like most Americans, many Pflugerville-area residents are not sure how old their smoke alarms are, and they have no idea how important this is to their safety. We frequently ask people to tell us how old their smoke alarms are, and they almost always tell us, “Well, I don’t know.” Maybe they bought a pre-owned home and thought the alarms were updated by the previous homeowners. They might even assume smoke alarms last pretty much forever.

Unfortunately, smoke alarms will not reliably alert you to a fire after about 10 years, even if you dutifully change the battery every 6 to 12 months and consistently test the alarm at least once a month as you always should. (This can be a fun family activity, by the way. Doing your monthly smoke alarm check together keeps everyone aware of the purpose and sound of a smoke alarm, and it’s a great reminder to have a home escape plan and to regularly practice that plan as a family.)

The fact is that the sensors in smoke alarms are not designed to function properly for more than 10 years. This is true for all types of smoke alarms, including hard-wired and interconnected alarms — the kind that are tied to your home’s electricity with a back-up battery.

On Oct. 11, Pflugerville Mayor Pro Tem Omar Peña proclaimed Oct. 9-15 Fire Prevention Week in Pflugerville. The Pflugerville City Council recognized that fire is a serious threat to public safety and that homes are where people are at greatest risk of being hurt or killed by fire.

Peña joined Travis County ESD No. 2 Fire Chief Ron Moellenberg in strongly urging everyone to check the date on the back of their smoke alarms, and to get new alarms immediately if they are more than 10 years old. Their life-saving message was, “Don’t Wait — Check the Date! Replace All Smoke Alarms Every 10 Years.”

The bottom line is fire spreads faster than you can possibly imagine. Your family probably only has two minutes to escape a home fire with your lives. A working smoke alarm is your family’s best chance of surviving a fire, especially if it starts while you are sleeping. Over half of fire fatalities happen at night when people are asleep at home. Many of these fires start in the bedroom, which is why it’s critical to have working smoke alarms in every sleeping area.

We are determined to make sure everyone in the Pflugerville area understands the importance of checking the back of their smoke alarms to find out when they were made. Do not wait. If the small stamp or sticker says 2006 or earlier, it’s time to go to the store and get a new smoke alarm right away.

If you see that your alarms are not 10 years old yet, make a note of when they will need to be replaced and put them back up on the wall or ceiling. For answers to your frequently asked questions on smoke detectors, please visit www.PflugervilleFire.org, choose the “Prevention” tab, then “Public Education,” and click on “Smoke Detector Safety.”

Allison Strupeck is community outreach coordinator for Travis County ESD No. 2, also known as the Pflugerville Fire Department.